Isabel Healthcare Blog

September is National Cholesterol Education Month in the USA, and coming up in October it is the UK’s turn. The recommended cholesterol levels for a healthy lifestyle are 200mg/dL.  More than 102 million American adults age 20 years or older have cholesterol above these levels. What’s more, 35 million of these people have levels of 240mg/dL or higher which puts them at high risk for heart disease. Many people are not aware of what their cholesterol levels are or even what their results mean when they are tested.  Therefore, this is a great time to get your blood cholesterol and lipid levels checked and embrace learning a bit more about them. If they come up high, we have some advice on what you can do to lower your levels by making the correct food and lifestyle changes.

This week the former deputy Prime Minister of England, Nick Clegg, shared the story of his son, Antonio, who has been battling Hodgkin Disease, a type of blood cancer, since September 2016. The family visited the doctor with Antonio, now 15, when they discovered a painless lump on his neck. Thankfully, the doctor they saw considered the rarer, more serious conditions, and Antonio went through the appropriate tests to diagnose him with Hodgkin Disease. Some are not so lucky, however. Hodgkin Disease is an easily misdiagnosed case, as the symptoms are often seen as something less serious and more common. Claire Chambers, a young mum from England, was nearly fatally misdiagnosed when she developed Hodgkin Disease.

Here at Isabel Healthcare we have often blogged and talked about sepsis and the dangers of this life threatening infection, particularly in children. Isabel started out as a pediatric tool following the near fatal misdiagnosis of a 3 year old girl, and so we have always been very conscious of raising awareness for ‘red flag' diagnoses in children, and now adults as well, so they are not missed in the often narrow timeframe. September every year sees World Sepsis Day, this year on September 13th, supported by both the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Global Sepsis Alliance (GSA). What’s more, this year on September 12th, the organisations will be running “WSC Spotlight,” a free online congress for physicians focussing on maternal and neonatal sepsis, so we really wanted to highlight this and give some background into the disease presentation in mothers and babies, in preparation for the WSC Spotlight and World Sepsis Day as a whole.

We have all suffered a headache at some point in our lives, and there are many causes for this common ailment. Stress is always a large contributor, as is tiredness, hunger, thirst and even eating your ice cream too quickly. But would you know the difference between a headache caused by an interrupted night of sleep or one brought upon by a toothache? We’ve listed below 5 of the most popular causes of a headache and how to spot them, so you can treat it in the best way possible and get back to your every day life.

August is National Immunization Awareness Month in the USA, meaning healthcare organizations come together to both promote the use of immunizations, and make sure that everyone is aware of the vaccinations they need at the different points in their life.

Isabel Pro, as a lot of you already know, is a sophisticated Differential Diagnosis (DDx) generator which helps clinicians broaden their differential by providing clinicians with a list of ranked likely diagnoses based on the symptoms entered. However, after this step there are many features to the DDx Generator which you may not be aware of. Our knowledge pages, specialty sorting, matched query terms and training tools are just some of the features at your disposal with Isabel Pro. Highlighted in this blogpost are these key features which you can utilise to research and refine your clinical reasoning process, in order to obtain the best from Isabel and generate a comprehensive differential diagnosis for your patient’s history.

With many of us travelling to hot destinations this month in search of sunshine, we should all be aware of the dangers of heatstroke. Parts of Europe have experienced unprecedented temperatures this August with parts of Southern Spain and Italy reaching the early 40’s. With the influence of global warming, it is predicted that the incidence of heat-related fatalities will increase dramatically over the coming years, with one estimating the increase at 257% by the year 2050.

August is National Breastfeeding Month in the US, and the 1-7th August brings about World Breastfeeding Week, where countries around the world raise awareness about breastfeeding and the ways in which it can be championed in all societies globally. In many countries, breastfeeding is still a taboo, whilst in others it is the only way for a mother to ensure her baby gets the nutrition it needs. Malnutrition of the mother can lead to difficulties with this, especially in underdeveloped countries, so Breastfeeding Month and Week helps to solve these issues and break down social barriers. In developed countries as well, there is still a lot to be done to remove the stigmas around public breastfeeding and support mothers who choose to breastfeed or not. This year is the 25th World Breastfeeding Week, and the focus is on coming together with a shared goal, and understanding the role you can play in promoting breastfeeding in society. For example, if you own an establishment like a cafe or office, simply providing an area for breastfeeding or voicing your support for the activity in your building, can make the world of difference to a mother with a hungry child.

It is nearly two years since the Insitute of Medicine (IOM) released their landmark study and report on "Improving Diagnosis in Healthcare" warning us all that this endeavour was a "moral, professional, and public health imperative.” We blogged about the study at the time, detailing and commenting on the results and report, particularly highlighting the shortcomings when it came to mentioning Health IT and the benefits this could have on improving the diagnostic field.

This week, the publication Scientific American published a very interesting article on digital health, detailing the ways in which Health IT can and already is helping clinicians make better diagnostic decisions. Indeed, some of the things mentioned in this article written by Dina Fine Maron were in direct correlation with recommendations of the study, and with principles we have been promoting for years, so it is brilliant that this issue gets light in any form, be that a study, and article, or a conversation in a bar.

A research article in Journal of Anesthesia & Pain Medicine was published recently, detailing a review on patients referred with a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. The review found that the diagnostic criterion for fibromyalgia was not met in 97.3% of the patients referred, indicating that the condition is often over diagnosed. It was also found the referring physicians failed to diagnose 133 (94.3%) medical conditions in these patients which can be determined as an error of omission. The authors commented that ‘fibromyalgia may have become the “disease de jour” for the medical community and the absence of strict adherence to the diagnostic criteria for diagnosing fibromyalgia has led to many missed diagnoses.”